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have a look at my lovely house on my profile. you wont believe whats happened to it. am so upset : (. advice also needed in respect of insurance claiming

45 replies

belcantwait · 27/02/2009 11:44

yesterday, we had a plasterer come in to replace a small patch of render which seemed to be hollow and to fill in a few small hairline cracks so it can be redecorated in april.
half an hour later i had a phone call telling me to come straight home. bad sign.

the render was removed between the bottom left window and the top left window. within it, all the timber (lath and plaster on the top, stone near the bottom) and lintels are rotted through, the stones are all loose and falling off. the render is holding the structure together (and thats not even attached to the building!)

so basically its now left, gaping great holesi n the wall and bits falling out. and theres no way its just that piece affected- its the whole bloody front if not round the sides and back as well . i ad to call out the council to barracade it off as its really dangerous to pedestrains. which apparently we have to pay forwhich will run into hundreds of pounds

we informed the insurance co and have now made a claim but i am worried because:
1- they keep saying wear and tear wear and tear and thsts not covered. well who would have known it was like that underneath? the mortgage survey that was done on it showed there are cracks that were not thought to be significant and usual for the age of the building. i still have aa copy of it fortunately
2-if they do pay out, will they redo the whole house or just the little bit uncovered so far? theres def more than whats showing atm
3- that section of the house which is already unstable is being supported by a not-wide-enough-anyway rotten lintel- what if it all totally collapses? is it even safe to be in it? i know its been there for ages but we havent known about it and thats the difference. also now the render is gone from there thers nothing really holding it up.
4- if they dont pay up wtf are we going to do??? its going to cost thousnads and thousands

{worried}

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 27/02/2009 11:46

What a nightmare

I have a horrible feeling that it will count as wear and tear from an insurance POV though...

belcantwait · 27/02/2009 11:48

it is a bloody nightmare

do you think we have any comeback from the surveyor who saidd it was all fine, when actually the cracks were obv a sign of something more awful lurking underneath??

OP posts:
PestoMonster · 27/02/2009 11:51

Have your insurance company been to see it? They ought to send out a loss adjuster or structural engineer before making any decisions. My dh does this for a living and would usually need to provide the insurance company with a full report before they can make any decisions. If you haven't yet had anyone out to see it, I would ring them up and insist they do send someone.

Good luck!

tattycoram · 27/02/2009 11:52

Oh dear, I'm so sorry, have no idea but just wanted to offer some sympathy. I assume you'll have to move out for a while?

georgimama · 27/02/2009 11:53

When you had the survey done for the mortgage, did you have a basic valuation survey or a full structural survey? I am just wondering if you can sue the surveyor for not identifying this.

Your poor beautiful house.

belcantwait · 27/02/2009 11:54

pesto, i spoke to them this morning and the earliest someone can come out is tuesday. just hope the rotten lintel thats holding up the unstable wall doesnt collapse in the meantime.
tatty- atm we are still in there. it only occurred to me this morning that thats perhaps what we ought to do. esp with 3 dc . no idea where we can go though.

OP posts:
PestoMonster · 27/02/2009 11:55

I will keep an eye on this thread and ask DH for his professional opinion when he comes home.

stealthsquiggle · 27/02/2009 11:56

If you can't claim on your insurance you may well be able to claim from your surveyor (or rather their insurance) if they missed it - as long as it was a full structural and not just a valuation?

belcantwait · 27/02/2009 11:56

georgie- it was somewhere in the middle- not the very basic on but not the most expensive iyswim

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PestoMonster · 27/02/2009 11:57

Speak to them again and explain that you are worried for your safety. I think if it's unsafe they ought to send someone out urgently and you may have to move out into temporary accomodattion. This will be usually be claimable from your insurance if it turns out to be an insurance claim, too.

Ring again!

belcantwait · 27/02/2009 11:57

thanks pesto. is your dh in the insurance side of it or the engineer part of it?

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SoupDragon · 27/02/2009 11:58

If it was just a mortgage survey rather than a full structural one, I think you'd struggle. In any case, they are very good at wording things to take any liability off themselves using phrases like "not apparent at the time of survey" "recommend professional report" "did not appear to be" "were unable to check X due to furnishings/floor covering".

DaisyMooSteiner · 27/02/2009 11:59

cmotdibbler's husband is a loss adjuster I think, hopefully she'll see this and point him this way.

I used to work for an insurance company (a few years ago now though) and basically the policy will say what you're insured for - eg fire, flood, escape of water etc etc. If the cause of the damage isn't listed, then basically, you're not covered. Unless you can show that it's been damaged by something such as a flood or a leaking pipe I suspect you won't be covered.

No idea whether you can sue the surveyor.

yomellamoHelly · 27/02/2009 12:00

First thing I think is to call the company that carried out the survey when you bought the house.
FWIW our house has loads of cracks which kept opening up a few months after they were filled and 18 months ago a fresh one appeared which ran the height of the house. Our survey had noted them and said they were insignificant and to be expected in a house this age.
The survey company came round and looked at the house again (didn't charge us and came very quickly) and advised us to contact the insurance company who sent round an expert who wrote a report advising various scary (expensive and also disruptive) solutions. We would have had to pay the first £1,000 under the terms of our buildings insurance policy.
In the end we sorted it out ourselves (using the insurance company's expert "unofficial" advice - he was very helpful) which 18 months down the line appears to have been the right thing to do.
But it was very reassuring speaking to the expert (he was very well informed - don't know how they found him) and we were able to formulate a plan once we'd spoken at length with him. The insurance company in effect paid for his time to do that.
Good luck!

PestoMonster · 27/02/2009 12:00

He works for himself. But he is a chartered structural engineer and also a chartered insurance bod. He will work on either side of the claim, depending on the individual circumstances. Sometimes he works as a loss adjuster, and other times he will be appointed as the engineer on the behalf of the insurance company. He specialises in cracks and subsidence claims, but can do most types of claims.

Unfortunately he is out doing appointments today so I can't ask him about this until he gets back tonight, sorry. But I will.

OrmIrian · 27/02/2009 12:02

oh bel

No advice but lots of sympathy. Hope you get some good news.

belcantwait · 27/02/2009 12:07

oh god its not looking very hopeful is it?
youve all been very helpful (but not the news i needed to hear )

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 27/02/2009 12:11

When did you buy the house? It's probably worth getting the original surveyor round again to see what they say.

belcantwait · 27/02/2009 12:21

nearly 7 years ago. we have remortgaged a couple of times since then too .
unfortunately theres no way we could remortage again to pay fro this work

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jeanjeannie · 27/02/2009 13:17

OMG what a nightmare.

I had a similar situation with a front window - replaced a sash window and whole lot was rotten and it was an emergency call home to find house being held up with acros. I'd not had a proper structural survery done when I purchased but if I had have, then I could have gone back to them and started to lay some blame on them not spotting it. Sounds like a structual engineer is a priority.

No tips - just wanted to say I hope you get it all sorted soon - it's a gorgeous house. Just make sure the family are all safe.

tattycoram · 27/02/2009 13:19

Bel I honestly don't know. I hope you don't have to. I'm so sorry, what a complete nightmare

cmotdibbler · 27/02/2009 13:32

Helo Belcantwait

From you brief description I would suspect that it unlikely to be covered under your insurance policy - obviously caveated by a lack of seeing what your house looks like, but I've dealt with similar cases.

If you feel that the building is unsafe, you are going to need the assistance of a structural engineer regardless of whether it is going to be covered by the insurance - contact the Institute of Structural Engineers for someone with the right skillset in your area. he will be able to correctly identify the cause etc and will be able to discuss the issues with your insurer's loss adjuster

If you need any more advice post again

Mr cmotdibbler

belcantwait · 27/02/2009 13:32

crikey jeanie- a very similar situation then. what happened? tell me your insurance paid for it {desperately clutches at all straws}

OP posts:
PestoMonster · 27/02/2009 13:33

I'd offer DH for you, but we're in the Brighton area.

scrooged · 27/02/2009 13:35

I'm so sorry to hear this. Your home looks lovely. I can't offer advice, only a hug!

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